Denied visa, US man directs Kannada film via Skype

It helped save money too as it was a low-budget film

When Road King releases this November, the audience will get to watch a Kannada film that was directed by Hollywood-based Randy Kent through Skype from the U.S.

The producers are projecting this as the first Indian film to have been directed via Skype by a Hollywood director.

Winner of the Silver Ace Award at the Las Vegas International Film Festival for his Live of Lemon, Randy agreed to direct this film for his friend Mateen Hussain, who recently returned to India from the U.S.

He could not join the crew here because of visa issues. Since they were good friends, Mateen — the lead actor in the film — was keen that Randy direct his film and hence suggested that they try Skype. And it worked. This helped save money too as it was a low-budget film, according to those who worked on the film.

“The crew was in jitters, but Mateen was confident. Producers too agreed to this unique experiment and the project took off,” says associate director Rajesh. Mateen and Randy did the script reading and casting via Skype. “We even took the laptop to locations to show spots to Randy and finalise things,” says Mateen.

There were some teething problems with connectivity, but we managed, says Rajesh. “Randy is an adventurous film-maker. When I broached the idea, he did not think twice,” adds Mateen.